No Rhyme, No Rhythm
by Alba Aulbath
Summary: After the Brotherhood of Evil are defeated, the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. don't know what to do with themselves. Five out of six isn't good enough, but they must learn to make do.
1. Abandonment

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
I don't own Teen Titans or the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. Never will. Wish I did.

I went on a small quest once. It was, while writing this fanfic, to find out how to spell 'Kid Wicked'. Honestly, I've seen everything from 'Kyd Wykkyd' to 'Kyd Wycked' to 'Kid Wickyd'. So you know what? Screw it. Really, just screw it. I'm spelling it like a normal sane person. It'll be 'Kid Wicked' for this fanfic, and there's no possible way I can be convinced it's spelled otherwise. Not unless I have the creators knocking on my door, screaming at me that it's spelled differently. So there ya go. My wee tale.

Now go be good and read.

**EDIT: **Fortunately, someone was kind enough to give me the straight truth. It is indeed Kyd Wykkyd. Damn it, kid, just spell your name like a normal person. All spellings have been adjusted.

---

**No Rhyme, No Rhythm**

by Alba Aulbath

---

Prologue - **Abandonment**

**---**

There was a thing about being able to duplicate yourself. After all, your foes would have a difficult time keeping track of you -- heck, keeping _count_. It wouldn't have even occurred to impatient Kid Flash or the rest of the Titans to be _sure _that all of the Billy Numeri were collected.

The Titans had left, calling the Doom Patrol to take care of all the criminals frozen. It left the hideout disturbingly silent.

Save for the sounds of footsteps belonging to one lone Billy Numerous to approach the console.

"Razzin' frazzin'..." he mumbled, shaking his head as he tried to figure out the control panel. Multiplying himself just once, the second Billy pointed at him.

"Yer doin' it wrong! S'like this!" The second Billy proceded to press random buttons.

"Hey! Yer gonna screw it up, then we ain't ever gonna get th' F.I.V.E. outta there!" The first Billy slapped at his hands.

"Quit wussin' out!"

"Ah ain't wussin' out! Knock it off!" The pair of Billies started to get into a slap fight with each other, flailing and falling over onto the console -- which accidentally pressed the button they were looking for.

Steam burst underneath the frozen H.I.V.E. FI.V.E., the original Billy included. The F.I.V.E. thawed in seconds, each getting off of each other or kicking each other off of one another.

The second Billy smirked to the first. "See, what'd ah tell ya?"

"Shaddup!"

"HEY!" the original Billy snapped at the two. "Y'all gonna jus' argue? C'mere!" The pair of Billy Numeri grumbled to themselves before remerging with the original. "That's better."

"Hell help us if y'ever get an identity crisis," See-More muttered. "Aw, man, I can barely see a thing!" He rubbed furiously at his eye.

"Like that's a big deal! My gears are useless thanks to those snotbrained Titans!" Gizmo snapped, pouting.

"I've got a headache! An' I'm hungry!" Mammoth complained.

Kyd Wykkyd folded his arms, silent as ever; it expressed enough.

"Hey, aren't we gonna unfreeze th' rest of these guys?" See-More wondered.

"Why th' heck would ya wanna do that?" Billy doubled himself, the second stating, "They got us intah this mess!"

"I dunno, do YOU know how to get us home?" See-More peered at the two.

"Wykkyd can get us home, can't he?" Gizmo asked, frowning. He was not up to thawing out the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil, either.

Kyd Wykkyd, however, held up his hands with his eyes wide, shaking his head. "He can't take so many of us," See-More explained. "Gizmo, can you figure out how to get us home?"

"All right, all right. Step aside, nosepickers; I'll go look," Gizmo grumbled, stomping away to another console to look over it.

"Th' heck we gonna go home fer, anyway? Them dangnabbin' Titans are all gonna be there! All'a bunch of 'em! Multiplyin' ain't gonna mean squat," one Billy stated, folding his arms.

The other nodded. "Billy's right; we ain't gonna be able t'do diddly."

Sighing softly, Kyd Wykkyd shook his head to both of them.

"Whassamatter, Wykkyd? Timmy fall down th' well?" a third Billy asked; the second elbowed him.

The pale boy raised a brow at the Billies, then shrugged; he was distracted.

Watching Kyd Wykkyd a moment, the cyclops boy thought a moment before he nodded in understanding. "I think I got it." See-More folded his arms, his eye looking quite unhappy, red and slitted like a cat's, sympathizing with his friend. "How could she do that t'us?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Mammoth growled. "I'm gonna go look fer somethin' t'eat." He turned and stomped off to explore the base for food.

"Ah'm comin'!"

"So am ah!" Two Billies scampered off after Mammoth, the third remaining.

Kyd Wykkyd rested a hand to See-More's shoulder, frowning in sympathy.

"I mean, joinin' th' Brotherhood of Evil was HER idea in th' first place! Then she's hangin' out with THAT loser?" See-More demanded. "What's up with that?"

"Girls 're mysterious an' dangerous creatures?" Billy Numerous suggested.

Kyd Wykkyd nodded in agreement, frowning.

"Whatever; I just want to go home," See-More mumbled miserably. "I'm sick of this place."

"Got it!" Gizmo called out. "C'mon! Let's get outta here!"

"We're goin'?" Mouth stuffed full of a sandwich, Mammoth had returned with an arm full of, essentially, groceries. The two Billies behind him apparently decided raiding the Brain's kitchen equipment was a far more fun idea.

"Lookie here! I got me, uh..." Billy paused.

"It's a rice cooker," See-More told him.

"Right! I got me one of those, an' one of these, an--"

See-More interrupted sharply, "Look, let's just go. Gizmo has it set up." He turned around, practically marching towards the teleporting pods.

The remaining of the F.I.V.E. exchanged glances; Kyd Wykkyd ran off after See-More before the rest went to follow.

---

Essentially, the five of them were dragging their feet; it was a reluctant return home to their underground base. After all, there wasn't much to look forward to. They'd been betrayed -- again -- and barely had the desire to even look at Jump City ever again. The Titans were once again victorious. Worst yet, they won over Jinx.

Words weren't even exchanged the moment they appeared home. Two out of three Billies ran off to the kitchen, laughter that was forced echoing behind them as they decided to explore with their newly stolen goods with Mammoth following to feast upon the raid on the Brain's stocked refridgerator from prior; the third Billy saw it best to hog the sofa before anyone else could reach it, which led to Gizmo yelling after him. See-More saw fit to slump himself down at the table, folding his arms on top of it, and flopping his face into his crossed limbs.

He already knew it; it wasn't something any of them wanted to discuss. After all, at first? They'd been concerned about Jinx, when she had left them shortly after the confrontation with Madame Rouge. After awhile, they had assumed that Jinx decided to go with her -- the last presumption they had in their mind was that she had decided to go with that speedy little twit. Of all people!

And damn him, but he still... well, See-More still liked her. A lot more than he should have, apparently.

See-More didn't look up immediately, but he heard someone else sit across from him. He already had a feeling who it was.

Lightly, Kyd Wykkyd patted him on the shoulder sympathetically.

"M'fine," See-More grumbled a little, lifting his head to look at him. "It's jus'..." He didn't feel like saying it, so he shrugged at him.

Kyd Wykkyd smiled faintly, then gestured to the area surrounding himself. To anyone else, the movement would have been meaningless, but See-More had spend almost all of his classes in the H.I.V.E. Academy with Kyd Wykkyd; after awhile, he was just used to understanding the pale boy's body language. It was in this instance that he seemed to be pretty much saying: "Look on the bright side, at least we didn't lose another base."

Maybe in not so many words, but See-More grinned a little anyway, even for just a moment. "I know. But... after all that, she kicks OUR butts fer goin' with th' Brotherhood? It wasn't even our idea."

Kyd Wykkyd glanced aside, frowning. He agreed.

"Y'all still mopin' over that?" Yet another Billy approached, making it the fourth one in the headquarters.

"It was just a little while ago -- how can you ignore it so quick, anyhow?" See-More demanded.

Billy Numerous scowled. "Ah dunno; ah jus' don't feel like focusin' on it so much. It's annoyin'."

"That's not too surprising," See-More grumbled.

"Now whaddaya mean by that?"

"You're as self-absorbed as they come."

"Y'all no better than me; yer a thief, too!"

Kyd Wykkyd held up his hands, waving them desperately to be noticed. But the pair didn't seem to notice the red-eyed boy flailing for their attention.

"At least I'm tryin' to think about what we should do with ourselves," See-More responded; his eye shifted, looking angry.

"Same as always; look fer stuff t'steal, soon as them other dangnabbin' Titans go back t'wherever they came from."

"Is that all we're going to do? Ignore it! The Brotherhood and Jinx and the Titans and that speed freak?"

"If y'got any bright ideas--"

"Hey Gizmo!" Running from the kitchen was another one of the Billies. "Ah found this thingamajig in th' kitchen!"

Gizmo squinted over the couch from his repair on his backpack; hopping down and running his short legs to the Billy, he stared at it. Whatever it was, it appeared to look like an oversized disc -- and it beeped loudly and suddenly. Startled, Billy Numerous dropped it to the floor.

It unfolded, becoming a short tower; shining from a lens on the top of it was a holographic image of the Brain.

"Greetings, H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E.," he droned. The rest of the F.I.V.E. in the room went alert.

Having heard the voice, Mammoth immediately peered from the kitchen warily. "Isn't he frozen?"

"It's a recording, gunkmuncher!" Gizmo replied.

"I presume that you must have left the Brotherhood of Evil to return to your base. That was an unwise decision; you have broken your agreement. As you must know, I always follow through on my threats. So here is a parting gift for you all." The recording ended and the hologram blinked out.

"Guess it never occurred t'th' Brain that he'd get his butt... uh... lack of butt... get defeated!" Billy Numerous pointed out with a smirk.

The second beside him let out a laugh. "That's one confident bastard!"

"Shut UP! I'm lookin' it over!" Gizmo snapped at them, touching the device delicately.

"Whatever it was, looks like it was a dud," See-More assumed, considering the lack of activity.

It appeared that wasn't the case, as Gizmo paled. "Crud! No, it's a bomb! We gotta get outta here!"

"Can't you diffuse it!" See-More demanded.

"I don't have TIME to!"

All of them stood frozen for a few seconds; if Gizmo was even remotely right, then it'd take minutes to get out of the base and even just to their vehicles. Trying to come up with options, See-More whirled around and faced Kyd Wykkyd. "Look--"

Kyd Wykkyd shook his head wildly.

"I know you can't, but... but we need to get out of here!"

The pale boy looked worried, glancing around at the other F.I.V.E. They had no other options to even consider -- there was just no time. Biting his lip he nodded. Raising his gloved hands, Kyd Wykkyd's cloak extended out, covering the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. until they were safely under his cape shortly before they teleported away.

The H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E.'s base, seconds afterwards, was no more and caught within a fiery explosion.

---

A mile from the base, on a rooftop, a dark portal appeared right over the flat roof; one by one, the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. dropped out from the portal, landing atop each other with grunts and groans. Afterwards, the dork portal reformed into a caped pale boy, and he fell atop the dogpile.

"So much fer lookin' on th' bright side," Billy Numerous muttered, trying to untangle himself from the mess of the F.I.V.E. "That's gotta be, like, th' third base we lost."

"Crud! All my stuff!" Gizmo fumed and stomped to a corner of the rooftop.

See-More and a Billy helped support Kyd Wykkyd to his feet, exhausted from the transportation; the boy with the large eye glanced towards the smoke rising from the distance, magnifying the look. He sighed. "Yeah, it's toast..."

Kyd Wykkyd sulked his head, closing his eyes.

It was another moment left unsaid. There'd been more than just betrayl amongst them, more than just getting busted yet again by the Titans, mocked by Kid Flash -- and it was much more than having lost their base.

All in the same day, they'd also lost their home.

---


	2. Composing Fate

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
I don't own Teen Titans or the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. Never will. Wish I did.

I've been seeking out info on other two former members of the H.I.V.E. Academy: the alien-like boy that grows large, and the angel girl. It appears as though their names are, respectively, XL Terrestrial and Angel. Are these the definite names of these characters?

Also, there was a good question about the prologue, as to why Kyd Wykkyd didn't just teleport the bomb out. The thing is, Wykkyd can't simply make portals and toss it out like the Herald or maybe even Raven; he uses his own body and clothes as extensions I figure. In that case, in the time they had left, he'd have to grab the bomb, take it with him, and decide on a spot to toss it. Nobody but Gizmo would have known what time was left -- which honestly wasn't much. Essentially, Wykkyd had the best chance of blowing himself up with the bomb, so it wasn't an option. Good question, though.

---

**No Rhyme, No Rhythm**

by Alba Aulbath

---

Chapter One - **Composing Fate**

---

"This STINKS! Now what're we supposed to do!" Gizmo demanded.

There was no immediate answer to his question; the remaining of the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. looked out to the distant stream of smoke that was a mile off from where they were currently located: standing on the top of a roof to an apartment building just on the edge of Jump City. Everything had been going downhill for them; they'd been betrayed, they'd been frozen, and they no longer had a home to return to. Some could call it karma. Others, just horrid luck.

"Ah'm tellin' you one thing, ah'm not gonna find me an abandoned warehouse or nothin' of such," Billy Numerous remarked wryly.

See-More's eye moved to look at one of the Billies before looking to to the others, while he and another Billy still supported Kyd Wykkyd. "We gotta find Jinx."

The second Billy snorted. "Why th' hell would we go an' do that?"

"Yeah! She's th' one who was ready t'hop, skip, an' jump t'th' Brotherhood in th' first place!" the first agreed. "Now she's followin' Kid Flash 'round. Why wouldja wanna go find HER for?"

The first thing the cyclops snapped was, "Look at us!" There was a pause; everyone watched him carefully before he sighed and explained, "She kept us together. She's our leader." See-More's eye blinked, becoming blue and looking very, very unhappy. "We need her."

"Pff! Ah say we're better off without 'er," the first Billy disagreed. "C'mon, we oughta be goin' t'th' car lot, grabbin' us some vehicles, an' findin' a new hideout."

Mammoth folded his arms, his expression firmly set into anger and determination. "We oughta go after those Titans for all of this!"

"Good luck at that, snotbrain!" Gizmo rolled his eyes at the largest of the F.I.V.E., not at all impressed. "That's a gazillion of them in Jump City right now!"

During the argument, both See-More and the Billy holding up Kyd Wykkyd forgot about supporting their friend, much more interested in getting their point through; much to Wykkyd's dismay, he fell onto his backside while See-More tried to argue back. "Look, we obviously can't organize ourselves at all! We need Jinx to--"

"Aw, th' hell t'you and yer crush on Jinx! Let's jus' do what we do best!" Billy snapped back at him.

"Forget this!" Mammoth growled, clenching his fists and turning so that his back was to the rest of the F.I.V.E. "I'm gonna smash those Titans for this!" The largest of the F.I.V.E. leapt from the roof to a lower one, intending to meet with the ground and go on his own way, marching down the street.

"Mammoth, wait! We should be stickin' together!" See-More called out to him in desperation -- but it hadn't mattered. Mammoth obviously wasn't listening and had his own intentions.

Gizmo kicked a pebble, glaring at the rest of the members. "Forget it! I can't do a stinkin' thing without my backpack; I'm goin' t'make another! Seeya, crudmunchers!" Though small, he started to make his way down the fire escape, intended to go on his own.

"Aw, hell. They've got th' right idea! Whaddaya say, Billy?" the first of the Numeri questioned the second.

"Ah agree. We'll do things our way! Wykkyd, you comin'?" the second turned to the pale boy, still sitting since he'd been dropped.

Kyd Wykkyd looked up to him, frowning as he pondered the offer for a moment before shaking his head.

Billy grinned faintly. "Suit yerself! C'mon, Billy!"

"Comin', Billy!"

Duplicating himself, the Billies started down the fire escape as well, hooting and cheering as they went on their way to accompany only themselves.

Sighing, See-More held the side of his head. It was a disaster; to add to their list, the F.I.V.E. had almost completely split up, leaving only two. Reluctantly, See-More turned to Kyd Wykkyd. "You wanna go, too?" he asked miserably.

The quiet boy shook his head; he was scowling, thoughtful likely.

"What're we gonna do, Wykkyd?" See-More shook his head. "We can't just go back to the way things were. It ain't that simple now."

Kyd Wykkyd shrugged before he accepted the hand-up help from his friend. Thinking seriously on the matter for a moment, the crimson-eyed boy came to a conclusion and made a simple gesture.

See-More, however, was only confused; he blinked a question mark. "What...?"

Sighing, Kyd Wykkyd pointed in a direction.

Turning his head and magnifying the view, See-More spied the location Wykkyd was pointing at and smiled faintly.

"Sure, why not?" he supposed.

---

It made sense to Mammoth. Basic logic usually did.

Track down the Titans, crush them all for that they had done.

The H.I.V.E. had been dealt with awful hands several times before. He remembered clearly; things were fine in the Academy until the Headmistress mysteriously went missing. Then, Brother Blood took over. Sure, brainwashing sucked, but it was all the worse that their home went crashing down upon all of them. That, and currently they were betrayed about three times, lost a second home, and they were all on their own again.

It was the fault of the Titans, the way he looked at it. They kept taking everything they wanted and needed. They ruined everything.

He had to destroy them, obviously, once and for all.

Fighting was something that Mammoth had only known for awhile. Before the Academy, it was always fighting for his life, smashing his opponents down, and constantly being used by that damn woman. It was just his luck that both Gizmo and Jinx had found him that time ago, or it'd still be the same routine.

It was supposed to be the three of them, the top students of H.I.V.E. Academy.

It went from three, to F.I.V.E., to four, F.I.V.E., six, and F.I.V.E. again.

Now it only felt like one, and once again, Mammoth was fighting for his life.

He moved quickly down the street, but paused as he watched Dr. Light flee out of a bank. Mammoth snorted as he observed the doctor; not a surprise. The idiot wasn't even reinvited to the Brotherhood of Evil. That much of a loser, obviously; even Control Freak had been there.

Before he moved to take another step, Mammoth's eyes widened at the sheer amount of Titans leaping down to confront Dr. Light. They swarmed him, worse than bees to honey; throwing starbolts, firing sonic cannons, radiation, flames -- even bad luck, much to his dismay. Jinx really, REALLY was with them.

While hearing the moron scream like a little girl was insanely hilarious, there things obscenely obvious to Mammoth:

Jinx had left them for good. Whatever reasons she had. It was unfair -- he'd been friends with her and Gizmo for a couple of years, after all. What the hell had gotten into her?

Second of all, if he so desired to crush the Titans, he couldn't do it alone. Dr. Light was a weakling to be sure, but as strong as Mammoth was on his own, just one of himself couldn't fight ALL these Titans.

Billy was right. Just too many.

Reluctantly, Mammoth backed away, turning and trying to think of something else. He'd never been especially good at planning, but he tried desperately.

He decided to crush a lone soda can under his foot that was in the street; he grumbled and cursed at it, as if it was the to source of all his problems. That, and he pretended badly that it was the Titans Tower.

---

"Stupid ooze-slurpin', barf-eatin' nosepickers," Gizmo fumed.

For all of his wee life -- twelve years at best -- he'd been a genius. Born with a gift, born with talents that all envied him for. His brilliance had always been amazing. Had been wanted. And for most of his life, he'd been told what to do.

He never liked being told what to do. He hated the Brotherhood of Evil, hated Madame Rouge -- though feared her as well, hated Brother Blood, and didn't want to be pushed around by the others in the F.I.V.E.

Not that they had been, but why take that chance?

Jinx was the only one who had the capability of telling him what to do. She'd always been a friend, even if he thought all girls had horrendous skin-burning cooties. They were gross, annoying, giggly, and stupid. Jinx never had been.

Then, anyway. Stupid Kid Flash made her a... a GIRL.

Grumbling, Gizmo circled around the interior of Cook's Electronics, gathering and composing the materials he needed to rebuild his backpack.

It was all wrong. They were all supposed to be in the Academy, kicking the Titans' stinking butts, and doing what they wanted. The Titans always made things worse! He hated them! He hated them so much!

He wouldn't be pushed around anymore!

Gizmo just didn't understand why he felt like he missed the others so badly when he wanted to get away before.

Much to his ignorance in his thoughts, sparks of electricity danced towards his backpack.

---

"I think I can remember th' first day of Academy," See-More mused faintly, pushing some debris over. "I mean, you know, I remember when I first showed up fer membership..."

Within character, Kyd Wykkyd remained absolutely silent, but he smiled and nodded, reassuring his friend he was listening.

The pair had returned to what had once been H.I.V.E. Academy. It was possible to walk through the ruins, but there wasn't anything worth looking at or keeping, in truth. Still, it was the only home for them to go without being pestered by Titans, leftovers from the Brotherhood, or authorities in general from the city.

"It was tougher t'steal in Jump than Steel, so I wanted in. It wasn't easy." See-More laughed a little. "But y'know, didn't have anywhere else to go. After all those tests, I was so damned tired I could barely walk. It was Jinx that helped me t'my room. Stupid, huh? I think that's when I started to..."

He couldn't finish the sentence.

"A lot of us. No where else to go." The voice was soft, hesitant, a little whispery, but still remained fairly deep-toned; it belonged to the pale boy. Kyd Wykkyd's manner of speech was a bit stilted; he was never very good with words, even See-More could admit.

"I know," See-More agreed. "Heck, I remember when Headmistress brought you an' Angel in. You were completely out of it, y'know?"

"Don't really remember much," the dark-clothed boy admitted, continuing to re-explore the Academy.

"Not surprisin'; you were out fer a few days."

Kyd Wykkyd shrugged, pushing aside a broken door. He glanced around before he entered a wide, dark room; See-More was right behind him.

Turning his switch on his helmet, See-More focused his eye to become nothing more than a glorified flashlight. "Th' cafeteria?"

The pale boy smirked faintly. "Everyday, Sloppy Joe's day."

"Yeah. Makes me think of--"

"Don't." Kyd Wykkyd shook his head.

See-More managed to find a chair that wasn't completely destroyed in the wreck, pushing it back to its upright position before taking a careful seat. "It does," he said honestly. "I remember his first day here. Man, it almost seems hard t'believe sometimes that it was him that destroyed this place..."

"I know." Kyd Wykkyd smiled wryly. "...He helped me with my homework."

"Sometimes, I dunno whether t'thank him or hate 'im."

Wykkyd lifted his head, looking around the room quietly before speaking again. "I do both. ...He threw all his memories away."

See-More's eye popped up a question mark.

"...What I mean is... we take what we want. Do what we want. But I never, ever throw my memories away. ... Maybe we stew over them, but we don't forget things." Kyd Wykkyd closed his eyes. "Cyborg, Bumblebee, and Jinx are going to willingly forget everything, because it's for the greater good. Or whatever that means to them."

"Y'really think Jinx is going to--"

"See-More." Red eyes were set onto the cycloptic helmet. "Just because you care doesn't mean she will."

"I..." See-More sulked. "I guess not."

---

"YEEHAW! What'd ah tell ya, Billy!"

"Y'all were right, Billy! As usual!"

"And smooth, too!"

"Damn right, Billy!"

It was impossible to count exactly how many of them were presently nabbing ... essentially anything from stores all around. It was never quite the items that he stole that mattered, but really, just the act of it. The thrill of theft and getting away with it and having it all -- that was really the only reason why Billy Numerous did what he did.

That had been his reason, so he thought.

"Heck, we're better off without 'em!"

"Holdin' us back like that!"

"Good riddance!"

For a long time, he had only himself and only cared for himself. Hundreds of himselves, as a matter of fact. It was the type of career -- if one could call it that -- that being selfish counted most.

"Heck, we don't need a bunch'a wussies mopin' behind us!"

"Don't want 'em around!"

"I kinda miss 'em."

Several Billy heads turned to look at the single Billy in the middle. He held up his hands defensively, but he couldn't say anything.

"Me too," another agreed.

"Aw heck, y'know when Mammoth makes that beef stew--"

"Whaddabout them pillow forts--"

"It ain't so fun without 'em."

It was only so long that your best friend could be yourself, Billy knew.

He didn't like giving a worried glance to his H.I.V.E. communicator when there was an emergency blip going off. One of them was in danger.

---

While Mammoth debated on robbing a taco stand half-heartedly, he noted his communicator.

And he growled. It wasn't the Titans messing with one of them. After all, they were stomping around on Dr. Light. So who was in trouble, and who was giving them trouble...?

He turned, forgetting about the taco stand, and setting his mind to something more important.

---

"Can't be too surprised about Jinx," Kyd Wykkyd mumbled as the pair stepped into the destroyed combat room.

"Why not? I mean, c'mon; she was all over th' Brotherhood of Evil," See-More responded doubtfully.

Kyd Wykkyd smiled wryly at him. "...Her taste sucks. First Cyborg, now Kid Flash? Give me a break."

See-More smirked and shook his head. It didn't much help, considering the whole unrequited feelings he still harbored, but he knew Wykkyd was trying to make him feel better.

The two of them stopped in their conversation, communicators beeping. They looked to the comlinks.

"One of them is..." Kyd Wykkyd trailed off and frowned.

"Cook's Electronics." See-More hooked his communicator back to his belt. "Are ya up fer 'porting?"

Kyd Wykkyd nodded without hesitation, considering he had long since recovered. Throwing out his cape, it reached out and covered both of them, twisting and disappearing away.

---

Outside of the electronics store, the F.I.V.E. were once again gathered, slowing once they were within ten feet of each other; it was an awkward moment, none of them knowing what to say to each other. They had argued, had wanted to do different things, and still didn't even truly know what to do next. Where would they go, what would they do, and would it even have a point?

But See-More let out a sigh, starting them off. "Look, I don't think we can stay split up like this. Sure, we all wanna do different things, but we can't do any of 'em by ourselves, right?"

"Aw hell, See-More; it's jus' borin' without any of y'all," Billy Numerous admitted, thought reluctantly. Shaking his head, he continued, "Ah could steal from as many ATM machines as ah want an' it wouldn't be a blast without y'all."

"I'm not crazy enough t'go after all of those Titans. They completely stomped that Doc Light loser -- more than usual." Mammoth folded his arms.

"It's just better if we stay together. I know we've been betrayed loads of times, but we don't have anyone else right now. Jus' us -- each other. We were separated for all of two hours, guys. With more Titans and less of us, we have to keep together." See-More paused, then his eye blinked and formed a question mark, finally noticing a lack of their shortest member. "Is Gizmo the one in trouble...?"

"With who? Them Titans ain't 'round here; they was busy with Dr. Light, weren't they, Mammoth?" Billy turned to the much larger of the F.I.V.E.; Mammoth nodded, puzzled.

See-More held onto the switch to his helmet. "Gimme a sec; I'll take a peek." Turning it, he used x-ray vision to gaze past the wall and peer inside the shop.

It was indeed Gizmo, fleeing and scrambling under a table, hiding from his own backpack -- still obviously in the works, but near completion. It was attacking him, for whatever reason, spider-legs stabbing into the floor, chasing him--

See-More took a closer look at the backpack. A familiar disk attached to the back of it.

"Overload?" See-More blinked his eye back to normal, glancing to his teammates.

"Naw!" Billy Numerous interjected doubtfully.

A second Billy nodded. "I saw Overload get absorbed by that Kilowat feller."

"He probably escaped; there were plenty of electronics in the base! He's taken over Gizmo's backpack now. C'mon!" See-More pointed to the door. "Mammoth, break it down!"

Smacking his hefty fist into his palm, Mammoth smiled widely. "My pleasure!"

Winding his arm back, the largest of the F.I.V.E. smashed his fist against the wall, breaking it down with little effort. Presented before them was indeed Gizmo, hiding under a table, though he peered out in shock once he saw the others rush inside to his aid.

"Guys!" Gizmo cried out for their help. The spiderlegs on his backpack smashed the table in half abruptly; yelping, the boy scurried out from under the splinters. "CRUD!"

"Wykkyd, grab Gizmo! Billy, split up an' get Overload's attention!" See-More commanded, constantly switching between sights to overlook the situation.

One Billy gave him a thumbs-up, the second grinning and saying, "Y'got it! C'mon, y'all!"

Splitting up in a few more of the Numeri, the group of Billies rushed off to nag and annoy the possessed backpack. Kyd Wykkyd quickly disappeared into his cloak, vanishing; he reappeared a second later, grabbing onto Gizmo and disappearing again.

"Now what?" Mammoth demanded, looking at See-More.

"Hang on, hang on!" Flipping through the levels as he stared down at the floor, he pointed sharply. "There! Billy, herd Overload here! Mammoth, get to th' pipe t'make a water stream."

"We're a'comin'!" a Billy reassured. "YEEHAW! C'mon, bubba; I'm over here!" He split in half just before Overload stomped the tip of a spiderleg towards him.

Kyd Wykkyd reappeared beside See-More, holding Gizmo up in his arms; the pale boy glanced to the cyclops, tilting his head.

"Gettin' to it," See-More told Wykkyd. "Gizmo, you okay?"

Snorting somewhat ingratefully, Gizmo looked away. "I'm fine!" he grumbled.

"Ain't that a fine way t'say thanks?" Billy laughed, shortly before he was knocked back by a leg and thumping against the wall. "AUGH! Aw, dang it..."

Overload turned on its legs, focusing on the group. A slot slid open, revealing--

"MISSILES!" See-More glowered the best he could with his eye at Gizmo. "When'd you get time to get missiles?"

"Zip it, scuzz-brain! I was almost done until this stupid virus infected it!" Gizmo flailed in Wykkyd's arms, snapping at See-More.

The missiles launched at the group; quickly, Kyd Wykkyd shoved Gizmo into See-More's hands before he disappeared, reappearing in time to use his cape to slice off the detonator parts of the missiles, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground. A second later, he was swatted away, deeper into the store. A few Billy Numeri leapt from the floor, slamming against the spiderlegs, knocking Overload over so he smashed against the ground.

"Mammoth, NOW!" See-More shouted.

Slamming his fist into the floor and further, a burst of water from a pipe sprayed and completely covered the backpack, shorting out Overload into a plain disk.

There was a moment of silence from them, hearing only the water spray and trickle on the floor. Slowly, they advanced towards each other, looking at one another.

Gizmo wiggled out of See-More's grip and grabbed onto his backpack before running around to essentially hide behind Wykkyd's cape, who had returned with a slight limp. The pale boy blinked down at Gizmo, then looked back to the others in silence.

"Like I said... we can't do this alone," See-More told them quietly. "...I dunno how we're going to do it without Jinx, but we can."

There was a burst of laughter from two Billies, a third slapping his knee. "Y'can be real dumb, y'all know that?"

See-More blinked, forming an exclamation point. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Don't be stupid; Jinx was a real motivator. Girl sure had that as a talent!" Billy told him.

A second Billy nodded and continued. "Y'all know what'cher doin', though, far as tellin' us what t'do an' where t'go. Hell, we don't need Jinx now."

"Easy for you to say!" Gizmo snapped at the Billy Numeri, peeking out from behind Wykkyd's cape.

Mammoth simply stated, "She was my friend. It's the Titans' fault she's left us."

Holding up his hands to quiet them, See-More said, "Look, I dunno 'bout leadin'. I'd rather it'd be a team effort, but. Anyhow, there's not much we can do, as far as Jinx's concerned. I don't think th' Titans made 'er leave. ... Actually, I'm damn sure of it. We can't make her come back, but that doesn't mean we can't pay back th' Titans... sometime. Fer now, we gotta focus on us. We gotta stick t'gether, and we gotta do it right. I'll be honest with ya guys; I tried livin' on my own fer a long time. I can't do that anymore. I like us bein' together. Yer my friends. I don't want us t'split apart."

"Family."

Eyes and an eye looked to Kyd Wykkyd; he went red easily, due to his complexion, but he spoke softly, unsure if speaking up was the right thing at the right moment, "Us. Family. No one else."

"Y'got a point there, Wykkyd," the first Billy agreed, smirking.

"Hell yeah!" the second echoed the first's feelings.

Gizmo muttered, "That's so stinkin' stupid." In spite of the fact that he was holding onto both his backpack and Wykkyd's cape tightly, almost for dear life.

"No, I think Wykkyd's right." See-More grinned. "Look, we've all known each other for a coupla years durin' th' Academy an' after. Some of us know each other better than another, but that doesn't change th' fact at all."

"Great, it's all touchy-feelly, See-More, but what are we actually gonna do?" Mammoth demanded.

See-More looked down at the disc that contained the remains of Overload, picking it up hesitantly. He glanced around the electronics store, then grinned.

"We're not jus' a bunch of punks. We can do more than that. Let's make our own fate."

---

"Man, didja see his face?" Beast Boy laughed. "No wonder the Brotherhood of Evil didn't invite him back."

"Must've been a slam in the ego; they let Le Blanc in," Raven pointed out, smirking in the delight of having truly frightened Dr. Light yet again.

The Teen Titans and a few of the other members aside from the core were on their way to Cook's Electronics; they'd been so caught up in taking out Dr. Light that they had accidentally ignored the alarms that went off at the store when it was broken into.

They studied the outside of it; a hole in the wall, some damaged goods -- half the merchandise missing. Robin stepped inside, kneeling down and looking at the defective, sliced missiles laying on the floor.

"Comrade Robin, I believe perhaps you would be interested in this?" Red Star called out for the Teen Wonder.

Bounding over with a few other Titans behind, Robin scowled. "What is it, Red Star?"

"Look." He pointed at a floating device; it was like a canister, tightly concealed with a giant and stylish 'G' on the lid. Inside was Overload's disc.

Robin raised a brow.

"I am afraid I have more bad news, friends," Starfire called out apologetically. Lighting up her hand with a starbolt, she held the glow towards a wall.

It'd been spraypainted yellow with the H.I.V.E. Academy symbol, a number '5' in the middle of it.

"This doesn't make much sense," Robin muttered, folding his arms. "Overload being held in one of Gizmo's gadgets, the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. not in prison, and only taking half the goods?"

"Do you think Jinx let them out?" Raven mumbled suspiciously to him.

Robin thought it over, then shrugged. "Something to think about," he responded quietly before speaking louder for the other young heroes' attention. "Beast Boy, see about contacting the Doom Patrol about the Brotherhood of Evil and the other villains. Make sure you know whether or not they have the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. locked up somewhere. Cyborg, take Overload. The rest of you can head back to the Tower, rest up, and do as you want from there. I'm going to finish up here."

---

It was simple, they decided.

Things were never so black and white; this the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. knew well from their lives and recent events. They did not want to take the path Jinx had, as they felt they owed the world nothing. But it didn't mean they shouldn't protect one another or take out supervillains that might endanger them in the future.

And why not take half the goods in the process? Society owed them badly. It was rightful payment.

The F.I.V.E. had settled down into finding an abandoned apartment building. They were exhausted, and took it over for the night, and perhaps in the future. They hadn't decided yet.

Mammoth found a dusty old sofachair; the moment he sat, he slept, snoring loud as ever. The Billies remerged as one before picking a spot on the couch on one end, and Wykkyd took the other. As Kyd Wykkyd dozed, Gizmo had eventually crawled onto the couch and had flopped against him, clinging onto the cape.

See-More found himself in the middle.

He felt unsure about the future, but they could take it into their own hands.

There wasn't just a path of good or evil. They'd make their own.

But for the moment, slept begged for his attention.


	3. See No Evil

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
I don't own Teen Titans or the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. Never will. Wish I did.

---

**No Rhyme, No Rhythm**

by Alba Aulbath

---  
Chapter Two - **See No Evil**  
---

The last thing he ever heard her say was,

_"Good-bye."_

To be truthful, See-More expected that she possibly assumed he heard nothing. But he had known, and it was from there he knew she'd go down that road and never look back, all because of a stupidly fast kid that charmed her. It was unfair, like most things in the world, and all he could do was let her go.

But he never really thought she'd attack them. He never really supposed that she was capable of it, after all her desires of becoming a supervillainess.

He remembered some better days before Kid Flash raced off with Jinx.

He remembered taking off the helmet in front of her, and she wasn't bothered in the least.

When he dreamt that night, however, she screamed.

See-More didn't get back to sleep.

---

"You're gettin' it all wrong, you gunkmuncher!" Gizmo pointed wildly at his blueprints, which had been pinned to the wall of the abandoned apartment they were still residing in. "Communications HERE an' living room HERE--"

Billy Numerous gave him a firm look. "Look, don't y'all get so picky, Gizmo; we're doin' all th' work here. Ain't we boys?"

"What he said!" another Billy shouted in agreement.

The Billy Numeri were organizing themselves to work underground, where they were digging out and preparing a brand new underground base as per Gizmo's instructions. The building they were in was barely livable, and there wasn't much they could do but construct a new headquarters below it. While they were all bringing materials while Gizmo planned the whole thing, Billy was primarily responsible for the construction due to his strength in numbers.

"If you wanna get it RIGHT--" Gizmo began, still complaining.

"We'll get it right, jus' quit yer naggin'!"

Stumbling out from one of the spare rooms, See-More was readjusting his helmet to fit on right; his eye blinked once, shifting and glancing to the Billies arguing with Gizmo.

"Been at it for awhile," was a familiar, mumbling voice. Glancing aside to look at Kyd Wykkyd, the pale boy was wiping sweat from his face, as he had been helping before. "We're all a little cranky..."

"Heh; can't blame 'em. We've been cooped up in here for awhile," See-More responded, smiling awkwardly. "Sorry I slept in."

Wykkyd shook his head. It was fine with him, obviously.

"I CAN'T STINKIN' WORK LIKE THIS!" Gizmo literally screamed, stomping away from the group of Billy Numeri. "If that pit-sniffer isn't going to follow the blueprints--"

"Ah'm followin' fine!" a Billy called back.

"Don't y'all get so picky!"

Mammoth grumbled. "All this work an' I'm gettin' hungry!"

See-More shouted, his voice almost echoing off the relatively empty walls, "All right already!"

Every single head turned towards the cyclops in utter silence. A Billy might have coughed.

"Look, I know we've been in here for 'bout a week workin' like dogs, but we gotta work together. We know that," See-More said a little more calmly.

"Y'know what we oughta do? Go out fer a bit," Billy Numerous suggested. "We been stuck in here like prisoners!"

"Billy's right; ah'm sick of lookin' at these walls," another Billy agreed.

"Ah think ah'm gettin' cabin fever!"

"I want pizza!" Mammoth demanded.

"Yeah, like we can go outside, snotbrains! Most of the Titans are still hanging around in Jump City," Gizmo stated with frustration, snorting at the end.

The first Billy Numerous folded his arms. "Hell, why don't we jus' go out in civvies, then?"

"Real smart idea, like we don't stick out much," Gizmo grumbled.

"Ah'm serious. We've got stolen cash, an' we could jus' grab some pizza like normal folks. No one'd be th' wiser. Most folks in Jump City're pretty danged stupid."

See-More didn't sit well with the idea. He folded his arms, shifting his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"What, is that helmet o' yers glued on, See-More?" Billy smirked and started to merge with his doubles. "We'll be fine!"

Carefully, See-More weighed his options. On one hand, he really wasn't comfortable with the concept of stepping out without his helmet on. On the other hand... they all needed to step out for awhile. They'd been cooped up and were getting on each other's nerves more than usual. It'd be best for all of them if they went out for awhile.

Even if he really, really didn't want to.

"All right. But we gotta keep our cover low. Don't need twenty Titans getting on our asses," See-More reluctantly caved in to the decision.

"YEE-HOO!" Billy punched the air before running off to get changed.

Retreating back to his room as the others did similarly, See-More let out a heavy sigh.

He hadn't even heard anyone follow him, so he jerked a bit in surprise when he heard Kyd Wykkyd speak right behind him, "Okay with this?"

See-More smiled awkwardly. "Well, I gotta be, right? Just, uh. I don't know if..."

Lightly, there was a hand to his shoulder from the pale boy. Nothing else was said; See-More knew he was worried. Glancing over his shoulder, Wykkyd frowned at him, gesturing out the door; he wanted See-More to confront them.

"Pff. Like I need them pickin' on me." See-More adjusted the switch on his helmet before he yanked it off; shaking his head, he also shook out tightly wound hair that was made into dreadlocks. He kept his eyes shut.

There was a sigh of defeat from Kyd Wykkyd.

See-More didn't have to look to know that the other boy had vanished.

Not that he could have.

---

The F.I.V.E. were assembled and leaving their hideout-in-progress. Truth be told, the very idea of stepping out into public without their costumes was more than odd -- just plain outspoken. Never had they ever feared being spotted by a Titan. In some ways, they dared to be in most cases -- but with so many of the Titans around, the occasion was not an option.

"Y'all know, since we joined th' Academy, ah rarely even touched civvies." Billy Numerous had quickly picked up the habit of ruffling out his own short, plain brown hair, as if it was foreign to him. "S'almost like ah almost fergot ah had hair."

"Hey!" Gizmo grumped, pointing to his own head.

"Eh-heh, sorry."

Behind Billy, Mammoth, and Gizmo were the two remaining members of their group; Kyd Wykkyd was walking behind the three, See-More's hand on his shoulder as they walked. The former, without his mask, had dark violet, unruly hair framing his face and a pair of pale pointed ears poking out between strands. He wore a long dark coat, as if to make up for his missing cape. See-More, on the other hand, seemed to have dressed himself blindly, wearing a lime green shirt and a pair of shades.

As they walked, See-More chewed his lip, feeling utterly awkward in the position he was in. He was perfectly fine with trying to organize their mess after the unfortunate hand they'd been dealt with several times. He had decent skills for that, after all; better for watching than being actually involved in the action, so to speak. Positioning himself as leader was a bit discomforting, but none of the others, he supposed, were really up for the task.

And in a way, he felt responsible for Jinx leaving them. He could have stopped her...

If he had really wanted to.

There was a rumble under his feet and he stopped, frowning -- which had been good instinct; Kyd Wykkyd also paused. See-More heard the pale boy in front of him growl softly.

"So much fer pizza," Billy sighed.

"Why not?" See-More asked, puzzled.

"Well, there ain't 'xactly a place t'eat at."

There was another rumble, and See-More felt a spray of dust and gravel, throwing up an arm to defend himself from the small debris. "Wykkyd, what's--!"

There was only a grunt for a reply before Kyd Wykkyd grabbed See-More by the torso, leaping away from whatever chaos was erupting before them.

He could hear it. The crumbling of walls, almost like explosions -- but he didn't smell smoke, so that couldn't be it. Someone had to be strong enough to break through the cement. See-More tried to think of who it could be. Maybe Cinderblock -- but he was frozen and taken by the Doom Patrol. That much he knew that should have happened.

Stumbling a bit, he felt Kyd Wykkyd land. It felt windier, likely on the top of a roof.

"Hang on, I gotta get my--" See-More began, reaching for his satchel where he kept his helmet. It was Jump City; it was likely there was some kind of emergency every hour or so.

He'd been grabbed and yanked back a few feet, then pushed to crouch. Wykkyd wasn't going to waste time obviously. From the sounds of it, he had run and leapt off wherever they were.

See-More understood.

He went to get his helmet ready.

---

Jump City was always in danger, even with most of its villains locked away. But the F.I.V.E. hadn't expected just one lone man to walk out from the rubble of what used to be the pizza lounge, dusting himself off as if nothing had happened. He was tall, looking to be a young African American adult. Casual clothing, nothing particularly special in appearance.

He lifted his head and grinned at them, immediately charging at the group.

Kyd Wykkyd didn't recognize him, but he knew immediately he had to take See-More to safety until he could place on his helmet. He figured a rooftop ought to keep him out of sight and safe.

Leaping down to face off with the man -- perfectly normal-looking, perfectly calm -- he didn't expect to be swatted aside so easily, so powerfully. Wykkyd slammed into the ground, shaking his head and trying to clear it.

"Hey, snotbrain! You must be pretty stupid, taking on the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E.!" Gizmo snapped, activating his backpack and taking flight, not hesitating to fire rockets at the man.

However, the unknown man just ran out of the way of the missiles, moving with insane amounts of agility and strength; he leapt up grinned at Gizmo, smug.

"Sorry, kiddo. I'm not after a group of you. Just one of you." The man grabbed onto Gizmo's backpack and tossed him like a football, making his rockets useless to pilote in the velocity he was going.

"CRUD! AAAGH, HELP!" the boy shrieked, trying to gain control.

Wykkyd winced and teleported from his crouched position, appearing in from of Gizmo to catch him in his coat before disappearing again.

Pulling himself out from some rubble, as he had attempted to confront the mystery man minutes before, Mammoth dusted himself off and growled. A couple of Billies, still in their casual wear, multiplied themselves.

"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" Mammoth grumbled, charging at the strange man, bringing back a fist and slamming it full forced against the man.

He went flying from the blow, smashing through another wall down the street. It didn't seem to take long for him to recover, as he was stepping out from the debris and dusting himself off as if it'd been nothing but a breeze that unsettled his appearance. There was one obvious thing about him, though: a tear in his skin on his arm revealed metal underneath.

As Kyd Wykkyd appeared beside the recovering Mammoth and group of Billy Numeri, Gizmo smirked as he hopped out from the pale boy's arms. "So the scuzzmuncher's a stinkin' robot or something."

"Right. We'll keep 'im distracted for ya, Gizmo!" Billy divided himself.

The group of Billies leapt at the man, intending to dogpile him -- but he threw off most of them off, a few managing to keep his feet connected to the ground. It was enough of a distraction to allow Mammoth to charge and lock hands with the mystery man in a competition for strength.

While this kept the man occupied, Kyd Wykkyd transported himself right behind him, helping Gizmo latch onto his back before the pale boy disappeared, out of sight.

"What're you...?" The man sounded confused, noticing something was wrong. "Get out of my circuits, you little BRAT!" No longer so calm, he threw Mammoth violently away before doing the same to the remaining Numeri.

"Heh heh heh, totally gettin' owned-- WHOA! HEY!" The man had reached back and grabbed onto the shirt of the boy before holding him up, glaring at him squarely in the eye. Gizmo struggled, flailing uselessly. "LET GO OF ME, YOU OOZE-SLURPIN', GUNKCRUNCHIN'--"

"Got a bit of a mouth on you, don't you?" the man muttered, not at all sounding amused.

Abruptly, Kyd Wykkyd appeared; the tips of his cape had noticably become more solid, sharper, as he turned and slashed into the man's arm, causing him to drop Gizmo (though the boy shouted with an indignant "HEY!"). Wykkyd knelt down to help the boy up, but noticed.

The man had sparks of electricity and blood coming out.

"I have no time for this." The man turned and leapt away, towards the rooftop of a building.

The one Kyd Wykkyd had left See-More at.

"Where the heck is he goin'!" Gizmo grumbled.

---

It took awhile to completely get his helmet ready -- it was a rarity as it was that he ever even took it off. He placed it on, not bothering to tuck in his dreadlocks.

Blinking his eye, See-More stood up; he had figured right. He was on a rooftop, meant to keep him out of the way until he could defend himself. Staring down, he tried to spot what was going on, finding his friends fighting with someone. He adjusted his helmet, trying to magnify his view -- but the man had run out of view.

"Where did he...?" See-More blinked his eye, trying to spot him again--

The first and last clear view of the man he saw was that he was rushing up to him and smashing a fist onto his eye, cracking it and almost shattering his helmet, giving See-More a splitting headache; he screamed at the pain alone and fell backwards.

"Been looking for you for a long time."

See-More could only groan in confusion before he felt a blow to his head, knocking him unconscious.

---

As soon as Kyd Wykkyd realized where the man was going, he threw his coat around himself and teleported away from the others. Once he arrived on the roof, Wykkyd didn't see a soul. The man must have moved swiftly -- not shocking, considering he had cybernetics. Maybe he was even entirely a robot in that retrospect.

Still, there was nothing left behind. Just remains of See-More's helmet.

Frowning and trembling with rage, Wykkyd tried to contain himself as he picked up a piece of the debris; softly, he let out a shaking sigh to try to calm himself. Who would have wanted to capture See-More...?

As he pondered the matter, he heard a whisper not far off.

"Azarath, Metrion..."

Kyd Wykkyd jerked his head up, knowing those words far too well.

"ZINTHOS!"

In a matter of seconds, he twirled around and saw Raven of the Teen Titans use her spell to throw a piece of concrete at him. Narrowing his red eyes furiously, Kyd Wykkyd grabbed the ends of his trenchcoat, concentrating and sharpening the ends before he swung them in arcs, slicing the slab in half.

"Crud!" Gizmo screamed, using his backpack to fly up by Kyd Wykkyd for some form of protection. "Those gunkmunching Titans are here!"

Kyd Wykkyd raised a brow at Gizmo, as if to say 'oh, really?' before he pointed at Raven. The miniature genius let out a yelp upon noticing the Titan.

Putting the piece of See-More's helmet into his coat, Wykkyd turned and snagged Gizmo by the arm before leaping off the building to the street below; he landed hard enough to cause the concrete beneath him to shudder and crack. Hurrying, he went to join Billy Numerous and Mammoth. However, they were beginning to be surrounded by the Teen Titans in all of their glory.

In lead was, of course, Robin; the dark-haired hero was in front, standing atop the remains of the restaurant before he pointed at them far too dramatically.

"H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E.!" the Teen Wonder shouted at them, voice demanding. "How'd you escape being frozen!"

"That really ain't none o' yer business, Birdboy!" Billy responded, dividing himself to try to make up for their lack of numbers.

"Y'tell 'im, Billy!" another of the Numeri hooted.

"Y'all jus' try t'catch us!"

"YEEHOO!"

Gizmo yanked his arm free from Kyd Wykkyd before snapping at the gathering Titans, "Besides! We didn't stinkin' do anything THIS time!"

The statement was hardly convincing for the Titans, it seemed. Rolling his eyes disbelievingly, Beast Boy thrust a thumb in the direction of the demolished pizza court. "Yeah, that looks real innocent."

While Wykkyd did well to keep silent as per usual his character, he bared his pointed teeth in frustration before tugging at a Billy's arm, revealing the piece of See-More's helmet.

The Billy was startled. "What? He's missin'?"

Kyd Wykkyd nodded.

"You can make this easy or hard, but it's not going to matter!" Robin shouted at the F.I.V.E., determined. "We'll take you all down!"

"We ain't got time t'mess round with 'em," a Billy Numerous hated to admit. "Mammoth, hold all'a 'em off; we gotta scram!"

Cracking his knuckles, Mammoth lifted up an empty card with his meaty hands before throwing it at the gathered Titans. Swooping in to catch it was Starfire, accompanied by Red Star. Using his multiplied selves to attack, the original Billy led the way down the road.

Soaring in front of them to cut them off was Argent, bringing out her hands to form a glowing red wall. Thinking quickly, Kyd Wykkyd disappeared into his trenchcoat, teleporting behind her and slamming his elbow into the back of her head sharply, bringing her down; the wall disappeared, leaving them a clear way again.

"See ya later, snotbrains!" Gizmo fired missiles into the walls, causing enough dust and destruction to cover their tracks.

Turning his head quickly, Robin looked to his half-machine friend. "Cyborg?"

"No readings. That pipsqueak's probably got 'em masked," Cyborg relayed the bad news. "What the heck were they doin' in their civvies?"

"Probably tryin' t'hide while they tear up the place," Beast Boy suggested.

"Wouldn't be too sure of that, Beast Boy." Floating down to join her teammates, Raven held out a piece of a helmet. "Something else was going on here."

As Robin took the piece, Cyborg scowled in familiarity and said, "That's See-More's, ain't it?"

"And we didn't see them carrying any loot. ...Something else is going on," Robin mumbled. "Titans, spread out and get information."

---

The H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. stopped around a corner into an alleyway, panting and catching their breath. Gizmo himself lowered his jets and landed in front of his friends, grumbling about the Titans interfering.

Kyd Wykkyd slowed his beating heart and looked a bit painfully at the helmet piece in his hand.

"Hey... s'okay," Billy Numerous told him as he finally caught his breath. "He's gotta be, right?"

Wykkyd closed his eyes and shrugged.

"Who th' hell was that guy earlier, anyway?" Mammoth growled. "I'll CRUSH 'im!"

However, the remaining of the F.I.V.E. only looked just as clueless as Mammoth; silence hung in the air before Wykkyd cleared his throat hesitantly, hanging his head with embarrassment and unwanted attention.

"Knows him," Wykkyd mumbled, his pale cheeks going red as the others looked to him.

"How d'ya figger?" Billy asked.

Kyd Wykkyd held up the piece from See-More's helmet, frowning to his teammates.

"So?"

There was hesitation, as Wykkyd fidgetted in place and looked over the piece in his hands. Finally, he mumbled softly to make his message clear, "Blind." Quickly, he handed Billy the piece before taking a couple of steps away, his shyness getting the better of him.

"So th' guy knows 'im 'nuff t'break his helmet. How're we gonna track 'em?" Billy Numerous scowled.

"Pff, I can deal with that. When I was foolin' with the pitsniffer's wiring, I was hackin' into him. I can trail 'im," Gizmo assured. "Jus' give me awhile."

Mammoth sniffed the air and looked around the corner. "We don't got awhile here," he grumbled, knowing the Titans would be looking for them.

"We'll get back t'base an' get ready. Ain't nobody gonna mess with us again!" Billy Numerous said firmly.

---

It wouldn't have mattered if he opened his eyes or not; the moment See-More woke with the pounding ache in his skull, he shook his head and groaned softly. Much to his surprise, he hadn't been tied down or anything of the like. Still, once he stood up, he felt dizzy, falling almost immediately back to his knees.

There were the sounds of electronic beeps and the hums of machinary. More than that, as he started to feel closer to reality, he felt cold biting into him. It felt like he was in a freezer! Smelled like it, too.

Aside from all of that, he didn't know where the hell he was. Just that... that person...

He didn't get a good look at his face, but someone attacked him. Took him? That had to be it.

Shivering, See-More tried to stand himself back up, wobbling as he wandered, hands out until he touched an ice-covered wall. It stung, the chill biting his fingertips -- but he was determined. Like hell he was going to lie around like a wuss. One did NOT go to the H.I.V.E. Academy and learn nothing from it.

While he was walking and touching the wall, the tip of his shoe bumped against ... something. He reached out in front of himself, feeling around blindly until he touched a tall and wide object. Flat. It was humming loudly. A generator, maybe. For what?

"Might wanna sit down there, kiddo."

The voice bounced off the walls, and there was no way to listen for the direction at all. See-More jerked his head around a bit, but a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him against the floor, knocking some of the air in his lungs out of him.

"And don't freeze to death. I kind of need you alive."

Coughing for a minute to manage the ability to suck in air again, See-More gritted his teeth and sat back up. "Where th' hell--"

"Are you? Well, it's not gonna do you any good. I already crushed your communicator so you can't call your stupid gang, and you can't see a damn thing without the helmet. Not a problem, though." There was the sound of footsteps, advancing. "You're in a meatlocker, downtown Jump City. But it's got a bit more tech than it oughta."

There was a stirring feeling of helplessness. Without his helmet, he couldn't do anything; attacking or seeing was not an option. It wasn't any wonder he wasn't tied down. He wasn't capable of anything.

But again, See-More wasn't about to let himself be helpless.

"All right, we'll start from th' beginning. Who are you an' what do you want with us?" he demanded.

The man laughed. "'Us'? Oh man, you think I want... hell, I don't care if your gang takes over the city by tonight. They can do what they want, as long as they don't find you. But me? Name's Frank."

There was a pause.

Frank spoke again, sighing, "Frank? Frank Parr? Doesn't sound familiar at all?"

See-More shook his head.

All Frank could do was grunt before muttering, "It figures. Damn it, she never..." There was a pause, then foot steps dared to come closer. Before See-More could tell what was going on, the front of his shirt was grabbed and he was lifted into the air. "Well, whatever. Not like it matters. Just know that I need you for a little operation, kiddo."

In spite of being held, See-More struggled -- but it was like trying to force a boulder to move. It was impossible for him. "What operation? What th' hell are you--!"

"Look, there's a reason you're in a freezer. Keeps you fresh. Sure, you had a little accident some odd years ago with your eyes, right?"

It wasn't due to the fact that he was cold that caused the chill to run up See-More's spine. "How the hell did you know that?"

"Hey, I've had to do my fair share of research. But as bad as that was? My accident was way worse. Mine was enough t'shatter almost everything in my body. I had all my bones replaced. Hell, my skin isn't even organic. I barely have enough organs to actually be called 'alive'."

"S'matter? Don't like bein' part machine?" See-More growled at him.

"That's not the problem, kiddo. The parts that are still all fleshy and bloody? Breaking down. I'm gonna need t'harvest. And guess who's just the PERFECT blood match for me?"

---

"Yo, Robin!"

The Teen Wonder lifted his head abruptly at the sound of Cyborg's voice; Robin had been carefully looking over the data that he managed to gather on the most recent piece of destruction on Jump City. Much to his surprise, it appeared that the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. had very little to do with it, save for defending themselves against someone. The footage from the security cameras hadn't been very clear, so it was almost impossible to get a fixation for who they'd been fighting or what happened after the mystery man leapt off.

Robin nodded one, acknowledging his friend.

"Got anythin'?" Cyborg asked, glancing only briefly at the blurry still of the video on screen.

"Only a little. The most I can gather from this is that someone is after the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. I still don't know how they managed to escape from the Brotherhood of Evil's base." Robin scowled, still thinking deeply on the subject.

The half-machine teen jerked a thumb at the screen. "Whoever this guy is, he ain't after the F.I.V.E. Not all of 'em. One of 'em was missing."

Robin thought about it, to catch what Cyborg had, then his eyes widened a little. "See-More. But why? They're just--"

"A bunch of thieves, I know." Cyborg shrugged awkwardly, voice forcefully remaining light on the matter. "Couldn't tell ya. But there's one thing I checked out during the mess. The guy that's after 'em isn't entirely organic."

"So he's a cyborg."

"Not like me, a'course." Pride that once would have been frustration at his own inhumanity was clearly marked on Cyborg's face, and he straightened his posture. "It's not entirely visible, but I think his structure on th' inside is mechanical. Still don't know who he is, though, but I could probably trace him. Hardware like that, he left easy t'trace. Don't think he knows his own systems very well."

There still left the question, though; Robin rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes as he thought it over. "But why would he need See-More?"

"Dunno. Either way, we gotta go after 'em; two birds with one stone?"

It was a good opportunity. Robin nodded. "Was anyone able to get a hold of Jinx?"

Cyborg shook his head. "Bee gave it a shot; she only got Kid Flash, an' he says she's not interested in hearin' what we got t'say. I'll try t'get Kid Flash to patch some messages through t'her."

"We just need to keep an eye on her. If she's responsible for releasing the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E., she hasn't changed as much as we thought she did." Robin gestured faintly to the inside of their base. "Get the other Titans and see if you can start tracking that man. We need to settle this as soon as we can."

---

"Ow! Quit shovin', gunkmunchers!"

"Ah ain't shovin'; y'all are jabbin' me with yer elbows!"

"An' me, Billy!"

"Same here, Billy!"

"I'm hungry!"

"..." A sigh.

"Okay okay! Hold still, scuzzbrains."

Originally, in the cramped space that they had it'd been quite dark, the only glow at all the faint crimson coming off from Kyd Wykkyd's eyes. However, springing out from Gizmo's backpack was a flashlight, immediately illuminating the surrounding area.

The H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. were in what appeared to be a rather abandoned corner store at the west end of Jump City. According to Gizmo's readings, the man who snagged See-More ought to be in the location -- and hopefully See-More as well.

"Ah see a whole lotta nothin'," Billy Numerous grumbled, glancing around the store with the aid of Gizmo's light. "Y'sure we're in th' right place?"

Gizmo scoffed at Billy's doubt. "Of course we are! I scanned for him myself! We're really close now."

"Well, ah don't see a dangnabbin' thang!" the second Billy snapped back at the vertically challenged inventor.

"I'd love to see you try to find him, you sludge-slurpin', nosepickin'--!" Gizmo started to argue back; between the small group of Billies and the technologically gifted boy, Kyd Wykkyd flailed his hands a little, trying to catch their attention and calm them down.

It wasn't really working.

"All gadgets're good fer is playin' games on 'em!" Billy Numerous continued, his clones speaking right after him.

"Like Monkey Riders Pro 2000X, Billy!"

"Oh man, I'd like me some Monkey Riders Pro 2000X right 'bout now--"

Gizmo growled, "Pit-sniffin', ooze-chuggin'--"

While Wykkyd's flailings did nothing to soothe the irritated hotheads from arguing with each other, a shout from the largest member of the team silenced all of them immediately.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Mammoth's voice boomed, almost shaking the walls. "Outta my way, I'll find 'im!" He grumbled and shoved the Billies away and marched further into the store.

"Pffah! I can't even get a definite location now!" Gizmo pointed out, skeptical of Mammoth's capability to find their lost companion.

A snort from the hulking eldest of the F.I.V.E. was all Gizmo received as a reply; Mammoth seemed to have a trail of something, as he wandered around the store. Truth be told, though Mammoth was likely Gizmo's best friend of the bunch, the big lug wasn't typically reliable when trailing much of anything. Gizmo was the brains department usually, after all.

Billy Numerous gave an exasperated sigh, putting his hand to his forehead. "Man, this is gonna take forever; he's pro'ly sniffin' out some outdated ringdings or somethin'!" Much as Gizmo wasn't bound to admit to it, he echoed Billy's thoughts quietly.

However, Mammoth simply pointed to a rusty irony door shut firmly on the wall. "Gotta be in there." He scowled faintly at his shorter friends. "I can HEAR 'em jus' fine, too. With you guys arguin', couldn't hear a damned thing."

Gizmo and the Billy Numeri exchanged sheepish looks.

Kyd Wykkyd just grinned to himself and his own quiet nature.

---

Much as he tried, he struggled. The lack of sight was more than a depravation; it was a handicap. It took away far too much, and he was absolutely helpless. That, and he wasn't physically powerful enough. As much as See-More kicked at Frank, it only hurt his feet more than it did any damage whatsoever to the cyborg. Eventually, the blind teen was strapped down to a cold metal table, unable to move at all.

"Don't freak out too much. If you stress your organs out, you're just gonna be useless to me, y'know," Frank told him.

See-More gritted his teeth angrily, but didn't respond.

Something burst and a slab of metal slammed against the floor; he heard Frank whirl around to see what was the matter.

"Well, well! Lookie what we got here!"

It was definitely hard to not recognize that Southern drawl. See-More jerked his head instinctively to look, but saw nothing.

"Hmm? All of you again? I'm surprised. You actually found me? You lousy punks?" Frank didn't sound particularly impressed with them.

"Learn how to cover your trail, gunkmuncher!" Gizmo snapped at him.

It was an incredibly quiet sound, but it was there -- he could hear Kyd Wykkyd's teleportation, and feel the brief black mist what whisped in and disappeared so quickly. He felt a piece of his helmet placed over his forehead, the eyeball blinking and activating; See-More stared at the ceiling, then glanced over to Wykkyd.

The quiet boy smiled faintly at him in reassurance.

See-More's eye flicked over to look at Frank Parr finally, getting a good look at him. He was older, in his later teens -- maybe eighteen, from what he could tell. Something was terribly familiar about him, though -- but hell if See-More could place what it was.

There was a roar that shook the freezing cold room and Mammoth charged, fist colliding with Frank's chest; the bionic man crashed against the opposing wall, jerking a little. The outer layer pretending to be skin was tearing, more metal than flesh revealing itself from the violent blow. However, sparks were flying from his joints as he moved to pick himself up, his jaw off a hinge.

This seemed humorous to Gizmo as the boy broke out laughing. "Th' guy's fallin' apart!"

"HA!" one of the Billies slapped his knee. "Fallapart! Ain't that fittin'!"

Frank growled; his jaw wasn't able to function properly, but his voicebox worked all the same without the movement from his mouth. "Your little gang isn't going to protect you, See-More! Watch closely!"

Moving swiftly with the help of his mechanical parts, Frank swatted a Billy aside and swung at Mammoth; however, the much huskier man caught the fist and threw Frank over his shoulder. The bionic man landed against the wall, springing off and slamming a shoulder into Mammoth's back, knocking the larger teen over for the moment before moving on.

"Wykkyd, hurry up!" Gizmo snapped at the pale boy, his spider legs transforming and unfolding from his backpack; he began to move around to temporarily grab Fallapart's attention from the rest of the group while the Billies attempted to dogpile the part-machine man.

The quiet boy nodded once, turning back to look at See-More. Kyd Wykkyd held up his gloved hand, the tips of his dark, covered fingers extending and sharpening with his shadow-based gifts; he gave two swift movements with his arm, slashing and clawing away See-More's restraints.

See-More slowly sat up, holding onto the remains of his helmet that was barely holding together and granting him sight. Turning, he smiled faintly his thanks to his friend, then his eye blinked to form an exclamation point. "Wykkyd!" he shouted, pointing over the other boy's shoulder.

Kyd Wykkyd turned around, his eyes widened as he was confronted with Frank's fist in his face; the boy landed and skidded across the cold floor, wincing.

"You're all useless little kids!" Fallapart sneered. "Got no where to turn, so you go ahead and join whatever biggest, toughest group you can find, isn't that right?"

"Bubba, y'all got it wrong!" Billy Numerous called over the scuffle as a couple of his duplicates helped See-More off the table.

Mammoth stampeded towards Frank, swinging a fist; though he missed Fallapart, as the bionic man dodged his attack, the larger teen snarled all the same -- no different than an animal. "Nobody messes with us anymore!"

"We're the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E., ya stinkin' junkpile!" Gizmo shouted angrily, his face going a fierce red. "It's all about us! NOBODY ELSE!"

Fallapart threw off a few more Billies, turning and leaping at Gizmo. However, Kyd Wykkyd teleported in front of the shortest of their group, utter fury sketched into his face.

"_Family!_" Wykkyd yelled firmly, as if the one word alone explained everything.

As Frank aimed his fist to strike Kyd Wykkyd again, the pale boy opened his mouth; a drastically inhuman roar that no animal nor Mammoth's angered booms could match was heard tearing out from Kyd Wykkyd's throat, as well as a burst of pitch charcoal black flames, engulfing the bionic man. Frank screamed, landing in a slump in the corner of the room, his mechanical body barely holding itself together, most of the rubber outerlayer that pretended to be skin melted off, clothes hanging off of him like rags.

Curious glances were granted towards the dark clothed boy, who ducked his head sheepishly, granting no explanation to the odd power he'd presented.

"Five for one, and all for five, huh?" See-More remarked, grinning wryly.

"Y-yeah, well!" Gizmo stammered, then snorted angrily. "Wykkyd would just mope around if you weren't with us!" The boy turned around in a huff, not saying anything else on the subject.

Shrugging, See-More turned to Fallapart; the bionic man was barely awake, struggling to lift his head and look at the cycloptic boy. See-More brushed off the help of the Numeri, walking to Frank.

"Why was I the perfect match?" See-More asked in a low voice.

Fallapart twitched, sparks flying from his circuits. "She-- She nev. Never. Told. Told." Another twitch and Frank spoke normally finally. "She never told you," he sneered.

His head slumped as he went temporarily offline.

As See-More scowled at the absolutely unhelpful answer, a Billy placed his hand to the shorter boy.

"Hey, c'mon. We can go home, y'all tell us what happened, an' then we have a movie night, aw right?"

See-More nodded numbly. He turned the only remaining switch on his helmet, forming out an eye-shaped cage to keep Fallapart trapped.

There was a terrible amount of questions to be asked. See-More simply knew that was part of life. Questions and no answers, sadly. He shouldn't have expected any. Why was it that he had to go blind? Why was it he decided the H.I.V.E. Academy had been a good idea? Why did they ever trust the new kid named Stone who was suspiciously familiar? Why did Jinx have to leave?

Why had he, of everyone, been the perfect match for Frank Park, the man falling apart?

"I get to pick the movie," See-More told them.

---

"Guess we got here too late," Beast Boy announced sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

The Teen Titans looked at the scenario. A busted freezer with an elaborate set up. An abandoned operating table, damages all around -- Raven even mentioned a magical residue, suggesting the presence of Kyd Wykkyd -- and the cyborg left behind.

"It's him all right," Cyborg confirmed. "Guess th' H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. got here quick for See-More."

Robin, still back at the base, nodded as he watched the transmission with his teammates. "I don't doubt that for a second, Cyborg. I traced over some leads and the sample you gave me. I have a conclusion -- one I don't think even the F.I.V.E. know about, or things would have gone differently I bet."

Cyborg motioned for Robin to continue; Beast Boy jumped up and down, trying to be seen in the transmission as curiosity got the best of him. "What!" the green shapeshifter called out. "What is it? C'moooon!"

"Frank Parr is the son of Brea Trowbridge -- but her name before that was Brea Parr," Robin began.

"So what?" Beast Boy demanded before Cyborg shoved him out of the way to look at their leader through the comlink much more clearly.

Robin patiently continued, "See-More's full name is Seymour Trowbridge. Brea Trowbridge is his mother, but she was married before she met See-More's father. They're half-brothers. Cyborg, you said that Frank probably didn't know how to work his body right, so that's why it keeps malfunctioning and his organic parts were failing. That's why he kidnapped See-More -- he was going to harvest him, but his team got there in time."

"Guess things kind of worked out," Cyborg responded, raising a brow.

However, the Teen Wonder shook his head in disagreement. "We still need to locate the H.I.V.E. F.I.V.E. They're at large still. I can't blame them for saving themselves this time, but they're still a group to look out for. If you come by anything else, let me know immediately."

Skepticism was marked on Cyborg's face, but he nodded. "Right. Later, man."

---

_"Good-bye."_

It was easier to do things with sight. That was always the presumption. It was easier to see things, and let it plainly tell you what was going on. That was the belief for so long. That was the thing See-More relied on.

However, in a way, it made him blind, to not see Jinx's intentions, her abandonment, her choice. It was his ears that told him, but he blatantly ignored it.

It was the sensation of knowing she was gone that made him realize that.

He did have a passing fancy on her -- nothing more than that, he knew. Still, she was one to be admired, and not just by sight. Her strong determination. That was it -- her mental strength, he'd always envied and admired. Never once jealous. No, he like many adored her for that.

But strength matched strength. She found the road to heroes, and he was still learning how blind he really was.

_"Good-bye."_

See-More smiled grimly to himself. Not all questions had answers. But he knew it was time to just let it go.

Family bonds were in place, and he'd be a fool to ignore them.

See-More wouldn't be blind again.


End file.
